Oops, it seems I forgot the reference:
[1]
https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/2wespt/help_ergodox_left_side_not_working/
On Mon, Apr 18, 2016 at 4:18 PM, Mauro Lopes <maurolopes@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Success! I am now typing on my Atreus! =)
TL;DR: it was a faulty USB cable.
Since I had already done what you first suggested (reflow the solder
joints), I followed your second suggestion (manually connect pins on the
controller), which showed the controller is fine.
So I decided to search a bit more and found [1], which is someone having
the exact same problem (intermittent/temperamental keyboard) but with an
Ergodox. The description in Edit 1 is VERY representative of my situation.
The solution in Edit 4 was to replace the USB cable. So I did it, and it
worked!
Thinking it could be mere coincidence, I decided to try three other USB
cables I have here, since these things seem to grow on trees these days. I
tested half a dozen times each cable; the original one failed after a few
seconds every single time. and the other cables worked flawlessly, so I'm
very confident this was the problem. I hope this information can help
someone else in the future.
By the way, your idea of using a wire to manually test each pin of the
controller was great! I think this should even be part of the official
guide, right before soldering the first switch, so that it is much easier
to fix problems before having the PCB attached. This along with using a
wire to test each diode too, which helped me find a diode with a
problematic solder joint.
Thanks for your help! Now let me enjoy my new keyboard =)
On Mon, Apr 18, 2016 at 3:04 AM, Phil Hagelberg <phil@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Mauro Lopes <maurolopes@xxxxxxxxx> writes:
After soldering the first switches (left column, bottom row and the
other two corners), I plugged it in to see if it was working, as the
guide recommended. At first, everything seemed to work fine. After one
or two minutes, however, the keys started to behave strangely. They
started failing occasionally, then sometimes they sent multiple keys
as if they were stuck until I pressed another key (but they were not
mechanically stuck), then finally the keyboard stopped working
completely.
I haven't seen something like this before. If it's affecting all the
keys, then my suspicion is that it's a problem with the controller,
unfortunately. It seems unlikely that a problem with the soldering would
manifest itself that way, unless it was a bridged gap between two
adjacent pins somewhere. Can you send a photo of the soldering around
the controller?
My first recommendation is always to reflow the solder joints, melting
them and allowing them to cool again. Another thing you could try is
manually connecting some of the input pins[1] to the ground pin with a
wire
directly on the controller to see if that generates keycodes. If so, you
can rule out a problem with the controller. If it's just one or two pins
that are affected, it's possible to route the inputs to unused pins
without replacing the controller.
Let me know if you need further clarification.
-Phil
1 - pins 4 - 12 on https://atreus.technomancy.us/astar.jpg
